In yesterday’s New York Times (July 6, page C15) Lynn Zinser reported on the frenzied final days in the race to be named Olymnpic host for 2012, noting the “frantic and expensive campaign among five national capitals” for the Games — the five being, of course, London, Paris, Moscow, Madrid, and New York.
OOPS! That’s carrying local boosterism a bit far, eh? New York lost its status as national capital when Hamilton and Jefferson cut their deal 200 years ago (H. got federal assumption of state debts, J. got a capital moved southward to the Potomac swamps) — though many New Yorkers, in their hearts, believe that New York remains the capital of the United States, it’s nonetheless a bit surprising to see the Times endorsing the notion. What, there were no editors around to catch the gaffe? [Though I note that the mistake was caught in time to fix the web edition of the paper by this morning . . .]
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